TheWholeNote is captivated by ‘Violin Concerto No.2’

“The piece was full of storm and drama, as winter can also be, with furious passages for the violin and resounding dense textures from the orchestra. By the end though, something had settled and winter had created a spell that for me was hard to leave once the applause broke out.”

“The Toronto Symphony’s New Creations Festival is turning out to be a remarkable blend between premieres of works not heard in Canada before, including two newly commissioned pieces and an experience of breaktaking performances by Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan who was featured in the February issue of The WholeNote… The two works that stood out for me at the February 28 concert were both devoted to studies of “a mind of winter,” which just happens to be the title of the work composed by Benjamin and performed by Hannigan that evening…The second work of the evening that paralleled this journey into winter’s translucence was Canadian composer Vivian Fung’s commissioned Violin Concerto Of Snow and Ice, written for TSO’s concertmaster Jonathan Crow. The piece was full of storm and drama, as winter can also be, with furious passages for the violin and resounding dense textures from the orchestra. By the end though, something had settled and winter had created a spell that for me was hard to leave once the applause broke out.”